The boom in cyber crime is forcing criminals to go to great lengths to recruit skilled hackers, says a report.

Some criminal gangs are paying students while they study to ensure they have a pool of tech-savvy workers to call on, says the report from McAfee.

Others are cashing in on the glamour of the hi-tech world to tempt youngsters into embarking on a life of crime.

McAfee said children as young as 14 years old were being targeted by some criminal gangs.

Crime spree

Greg Day, security analyst at McAfee and one of the authors of the Virtual Criminology report, said it aimed to explore the digital underground and how and where the criminal and hi-tech worlds meet.

"We wanted to understand a bit more about the motivation and how people end up on this career path," said Mr Day.

The most successful cyber crime gangs were based on partnerships between those with the criminals skills and contacts and those with the technical ability, said Mr Day.

"Traditional criminals have the ability to move funds and use all of the background they have," he said, "but they don't have the technical expertise."

"Cybercrime is no longer in its infancy, it is big business

Greg Day, McAfee

As the number of criminal gangs looking to move into cyber crime expanded, it got harder to recruit skilled hackers, said Mr Day. This has led criminals to target university students all around the world.

"Some students are being sponsored through their IT degree," said Mr Day. Once qualified, the graduates go to work for the criminal gangs.

Life style

As well as the direct route of targeting students, some organised crime gangs were trading on the glamour surrounding the "hacker" label to help them recruit impressionable youngsters, revealed the report.

The aura of rebellion the name conjured up helped criminals ensnare children as young as 14, suggested the study.